In this conversation, Birmingham Fellow Dr Jennifer Allsopp and Professor Michael Jackson from the Harvard Divinity School discuss the inter-relational aspects of migration research and how literature has informed their fieldwork both in terms of method and interpretation, from Sebold to Dante. In a wide-ranging and deeply personal discussion, they cover topics including the nexus... Continue Reading →
Launch on NODE UK|Japan special issue
On 13 December at 10 am (GMT) we are launching the special issue of Comparative Migration Studies edited and authored by members of the NODE UK|Japan academic network. We will hear from editors and authors and celebrate the network with the launch of the new NODE portal. All articles are available open access on Comparative... Continue Reading →
The many voices of Iris: now a polyphonic podcast
After a year and almost thirty episodes of Conversations with Iris as zoomcast, Stefano Piemontese and Nando Sigona explain why it was time to launch also a podcast version. The podcast is available on Google, Apple Podcast, and Spotify. Before the pandemic, IRiS hosted monthly seminars on campus, inviting scholars, writers, and activists to present their work and discuss it with... Continue Reading →
Migration governance beyond the state: In conversation with Andrew Geddes
In the new episode (#26) of Conversations with Iris, Nando Sigona talks with professor Andrew Geddes, director of the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute, about his recent book 'Governing migration beyond the state' (Oxford University Press). The conversation explores the role of regional actors in migration governance and how responses to mobility... Continue Reading →
The experience of LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum in the UK at the time of Covid-19: Dawn River in conversation with Laurie Hartley of Rainbow Migration
Earlier this year Laurie Hartley, Asylum Seeker Support Worker at Rainbow Migration (previously known as UKLGIG), spoke with Dawn River, academic with IRiS, about the experiences of LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum in the UK. This recording has been published during Pride month to highlight the specific challenges facing LGBTQI+ asylum seekers. Pride month takes place... Continue Reading →
Asylum under threat: Conversations with Iris #23 – Nando Sigona and Zoe Gardner
Launched in March 2021, the UK government's New Plan for Immigration is quickly moving towards parliament, after a short and contested period of consultation, 'worth no more than the paper on which it was printed', according to Zoe Gardner, policy advisor with the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. Despite its title, the UK... Continue Reading →
“Excessively Cruel”: Detention, deportation and separated families
New research being launched on 8th June explores the impact of the UK’s immigration system on mixed-nationality families. At a webinar chaired by Baroness Shami Chakrabati, Dr Melanie Griffiths will speak about research she conducted looking how UK families are affected by one member’s insecure immigration status and the threat (or reality) of separation through... Continue Reading →
Cities of fears, cities of homes – video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-W2zLysusg In this webinar organised by the University of Birmingham’s Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS) on 21 September, Professor Nasar Meer (The University of Edinburgh) explores the need to re-think two coterminous concerns: the rediscovery of the ‘local’ and the city in particular, and an understanding of the experience of displaced migration in Europe.... Continue Reading →
Cities of Fears, Cities of Hopes: IRiS webinar by Nasar Meer
In this Zoom webinar (registration here) organised by the University of Birmingham's Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS) on 21 September, Professor Nasar Meer will explore the need to re-think two coterminous concerns: the rediscovery of the ‘local’ and the city in particular, and an understanding of the experience of displaced migration in Europe. Drawing... Continue Reading →
Displaced SGBV survivors and Covid-19
Early in June Sandra Pertek spoke to Pip McKnight of Refugee Women Connect and Hana Leshaj, asylum seeker based in Liverpool and member of Refugee Women Connect Advocacy Group, about the deteriorating reality post COVID-19 for migrants and asylum seekers in the UK, at the time of easing lockdown restrictions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12bNXVGpcIQ&t=140s The unprecedented COVID-19 crisis... Continue Reading →